Edmond v



"Patented luly l9, I898.

E. V. BOURE. METHOD OF UTILIZING. LIGUEFIABLE GASES-IN OPERATINGENGINES, &G.

(Application filed July 21, 1896.)

(No Model.)

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Uivrrnn S'rarns Parent @rrrcra EDMOND V. ROURE, OF PHILADELPHIA,PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR OF TIVO-THIRDS TO CORNELIUS A. LANE AND JOHN L.KELLY, OF SAME PLACE.

METHOD OF UTILIZING LIQUEFIABLE GASES IN OPERATING ENGINES, &c.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 607,662, dated July 19,1898. Application filed July 21,1896. gerial No. 600,0 18. (N0specimens.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDMOND V.'ROURE, a citizen of France, and a residentof the city of Philadelphia, State of Pennsylvania, have. invented acertain new and Improved Method of Utilizing LiquefiableGases in theOpera'- tion of Engines, (to. of which the followingis a full, clear,and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawing,which illustrates in elevation a plant suitable for the carrying out ofmy invention.

7 M y invention relates to certain improvements in the operation ofengines by the direct pressure of gases or vapors from liquefiablegases-that is to say, gases which at normal temperature and under normalconditions exist as such in the form of gas or vapor and which under theinfluence of pressure and cold may be made to assume a liquid form,

It is well known that when liquefied gas isheld under pressure andsubjected to the action of heat the slightest increase in temperature,as by the mere application of the heat of a lamp, will raise thepressure of the gas to an enormous extent, and if released the gaspasses to its normal gaseousv form under great pressure and in conditionto be utilized for the driving of an engine of almost any character. Itis usual in the use of such gases to save and to condense the same bycold, and if to be used over and over again they must be compressedagain to cause them to reassume the liquid condition. The enginesoperated by these gases are necessarily operated under extremely highpressure, often more than seven hundred pounds per square inch, andowing to the pressure and the fact that the gas is exceedingly dry andhot it is almost impossible to introduce, or when introduced to gain anybeneficial results from, ordinary lubricants in the engine. As nowpracticed grease or oil distributers of very delicate andspecialconstruction are employed, and owing to the danger of leakage ofthe high-pressure gases these distributers must be made very strong andrequire the very best workmanship to prevent leakage. Another difficultyis that'the gas, being very dry and hot, willcarry away some of thegrease and cause it to accumulate in the condenser-pipes; but the mostserious obgection is that when the gas comes into contact with thegrease or oil it will heat the latter not to a sufficient extent tochange it into vapor, but to cause it to absorb and become charged withthe gas, and so form new chemical compounds of different propertieswhich remain in the cylinder of the engine in the form of tar, whichobstructs piston and valves.

There are some gases, such as chlorid of methyl, which are naturallubricants and which may be used directly as motor agents, and if soused the engine will not need any additional lubricating agent; butthese substances cannot be used to advantage from an economicalstandpoint owing to their high point of liquefaction and because of thegreat amount of caloric which they absorb before a sufficiently highworking pressure can be attained.

The object of myinvention is to overcome all of these objections byemploying a mixture of gases of such nature that two very importantadvantages are gainedfirst, the increase of actual working pressure overthe pressure which may be attained by the use of a single gas under thesame conditions of use, and, second, the lubrication of the enginewithout auxiliary lubricating substances by the employment in theworking mixture of a gas having known lubricating properties.

If, for instance, a gas is used that can be liquefied at high pressureand low temperature, ascarbon dioxid, and a gas, such as chloridofmethyl, which is a natural lubricant, the desired result. is attained,as the burner 3, shown beneath it. The gases to be employed areintroduced into the boiler A and under the action of the heat producedby the burner are forced through the pipe a into the Valve-chamber ofthe cylinder B behind the piston-head and after acting thereon escapethrough the pipe I) to the coil 0, situated in a tank 0, filled withcold water. Becoming liquefied and cooled by the process the liquefiedgas then passes through the pipe e into the cylindrical receptacle D, inthe lower part of the same, the valve 6 in said pipe being normally opento permit the flow of the liquid into said receptacle.

Above the cylinderD is a cylinderE,mounted in such position that all orthe greater portion thereof shall be above the liquid-level of theboiler A. From the upper portion of the boiler A to the upper portion ofthe cylinder D extends a pipe d, having a valve d",which is normallyclosed, and from the upper portion of the cylinder E to the lowerportion of the cylinder G extends a pipef, having a valve f, alsonormally closed. From the lower portion of the cylinder E to the upperportion of the boilerA extends a pipe 9, having a valve 9', alsonormally closed. From the boiler A extends a vertical pipe 2, leading toa pressure-gage 7t, and from the cylinder E extends a vertical pipe 1',leading to a pressure-gage h. The two vertical pipes 71 t" are connectedby a pipe 70, having a valve which is normally closed. On the boiler andcylinders are gages 11 to ascertain the liquidlevels in thesereceptacles, and on the pipe 6, at the exit end of the condenser O, is apressuregage 71 the various gages being so arranged that the differentpressures and liquid-levels at different points may be at all timesvisible.

In conducting the operation all the valves in the apparatus except thevalves in the pipes a, b, and e are closed, and in the boiler A Iproceed to mix in the liquid state carbon dioxid with about one-third toone-half of its volume of chlorid of methyl, the latter gas havingaffinity for and absorbing a considerable proportion of the carbondioxid, the first and natural result being that the pressure of thegases in the boiler is reduced in much the same manner as it would be ifa mixture of ammonia-vapor and water were employed. The mixture is thenheated in the boiler by the gas-burner s or by any proper application ofheat, and the temperature is raised from the normal to about Fahrenheit,the

chlorid of methyl when thus heated rejecting all of the carbon dioxidwhich it has absorbed and the pressure becoming equal to what it wouldif pure carbon dioxid were employed. The chlorid of methyl, however,also passes in a gaseous form, and when the carbon dioxid passes oil tothe engine through the pipe at the chlorid of methyl will travel withit, the two gases being mechanically mixed and both of them acting onthe piston of the engine. After acting on the piston both gases areconducted by the pipe b to the condenser-pipes c, where they are cooledto a temperature proper for their recondensation to liquid form, which,however, is accomplished only by the exercise of considerable pressure,the pressure in the condenser when carbon dioxid is employed being abouteight hundred pounds and the direct working pressure exerted by thegases on the piston of the engine will be about fifteen hundred pounds,so that with a back pressure of, say, eight hundred pounds from thecondenser the active working pressure Will be the difference between thetwo, or about seven hundred pounds. This is the case where pure carbondioxid is employed; but with the addition of the chlorid of methyl a newstep takes place which very materially increases the working pressure ofthe engine by reducing the back pressure thereon, and this is due to thefact that as the chlorid of methyl is cooled in the condenser itreasserts its affinity for the carbon dioxid and absorbs the same, sothat the pressure in the condenser is reduced considerably below eight.hundred pounds in much the same manner that is was reduced by thepreliminary mixture in the boiler. If the reduction in pressureis,say,two hundred pounds,this same amount will be added to the workingpres sure of the engine and the same will be raised from about sevenhundred pounds to about nine hundred pounds.

Owing to the avidity with which the chlorid of methyl absorbs the carbondioxid when the two are reduced to the proper temperature this reductionof pressure may be increased to some considerable extent by properlyproportioning the relative amounts or quantities of the gases and thework of the engine be correspondingly augmented.

As before stated, all of the valves in the apparatus except the valvesof the pipes a, b, and e are normally closed, and as the vapor from theboiler after operating the engine is condensed in the condenser C itflows through the pipe 6 until the cylinder D becomes partially filledwith comparatively cool liquid. When it is desired to transfer thisliquid to the cylinder E, the valve 6 in pipe 6 is closed and the valve(1 in pipe (Z and the valve f in pipe f are opened. The vapor from theboiler A under heavy pressure then enters the upper portion of thecylinderD and forces the liquid therein up through the pipe f to thecylinder E, and this is continued until the desired quantity has been sotranferred, when the valves d and f are closed and the valve 6 againopens. It follows then that'the cylinder E containsliquid somewhatheated from its contact with the vapor and at a level above the level ofthe liquid in the boiler A. After a time the liquid in the cylinder E iscooled, and when the boiler A needs replenishing the valve 70 in thepipe 70 is opened and the upper portion of the boiler placed incommunication with the upper portion of the cylinder E, the vapor underpressure flowing from the boiler to the cylinder and equalizing thepressure in both vessels. Valve g in pipe g is then opened, and theliquid flows by gravity from the cylinder E to the boiler A.

The engine need not at any time be stopped, as the pipes governing theflow of gas to effect the movement of the liquid are comparatively smalland there is little or no decrease in pressure.

In carrying out my invention I may mix chlorid of methyl with aboutone-half its volume of toluene or methyl benzene, which acts in the sameway with chlorid of methyl as does the chlorid of methyl with carbondioxid,

the absorbing action, however, being some-' what more thorough andcomplete.

If a compound mixture of carbon dioxid,

chlorid of methyl, and toluene be made, a

portion of the carbon dioxid will be absorbed by the chlorid of methyland by the toluene, and a portion of the chlorid of methyl will beabsorbed by the toluene. When this mixture is heated to about 90Fahrenheit, the component gases are separated and each then exerts itsfull expansive power and the three gases in mechanical mixture passthrough the engine and from thence to the condenser.

As the gases are cooled in the condenser the carbon dioxid is partiallyabsorbed by the chlorid of methyl and the chlorid of methyl is partiallyabsorbed by the toluene, so that the pressure is reduced and the activeworking pressure on the opposite side of the piston of the engine isaugmented to a corresponding extent.

The toluene-vapors do not to any material extent contribute to themotive power of the engine, as the heat is never raised to a sufficientdegree to obtain any effective pressure from the vapors, but they areuseful in that with the chlorid of methyl they act as a lubricant, and,further, they absorb in the heating operation a large amount of caloric,which they carry to the cylinder of the engine and there act to maintainthe heat, and consequently, the pressure, of the working gases.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patcut, is-

l. Theherein-described method of utilizing liquefiable gases in theoperation of engines, said method consisting in mixing with aliquefiable gas of high pressure at a given temperature, anotherliquefiable gas of lower pressure at the same temperature, which lattergas has an absorbing affinity for the first gas, heating said gases,conducting them through an engine to operate the same and condensing thegases, the aifinity of the gas liquefiable at the higher temperatureexerting itself at this stage of the process upon the other gas at atemperature higher than the point of liquefaction of the other gas.

2. The herein-described method of utilizing liquefiable gases in theoperation of an engine, said method consisting in mixing two or moreliquefiable gases when in a liquefied or nearly liquefied condition, oneof said gases being liquefiable at a temperature lower than the point ofliquefaction of the other gas, the gas liquefiable at the highertemperature having an absorbing affinity for the other gas, heating themixed gases to separate the same and to increase their pressure,conducting said mixed gases to and through an engine to operate thesame, and reducing the temperature of such gases to or below the pointof liquefaction of the one gas and partly absorbing by it the vapors ofthe other gas before that temperature is reached at which the said othergas becomes liquefied, and continuing the reduction of temperature to orbelow the point of liquefaction of both gases.

3. The herein-described method of producing power in engines, saidmethod consisting in generating gas from a mixture composed of two ormore liquefiable gases liquefiable under different pressures at the sametemperature, and reducing the back pressure after the operation of thegases upon the piston of the engine by cooling and first liquefying oneof the gases and absorbing by the said liquefied gas, the vapors of theother gas before the point of liquefaction of said other gas is reached.I

4. The herein-described method of utilizing carbon dioxid and chlorid ofmethyl in a gasengine, said method consisting in mixing the two gasesuntil the carbon dioxid is partially or wholly absorbed by the chloridof methyl, heating said gases to separate the same and increasing theirpressure, conducting the gas to and through an engine to operate thesame, then reducing the temperature of the gases until the chlorid ofmethyl is liquefied and absorbs the vapors of the carbon dioxid whilethe carbon dioxid is in its gaseous form and continuing the reduction oftemperature until both gases are liquefied for reducing the backpressure for the purposes described.

5. The herein-described method of utilizing carbon dioxid, chlorid ofmethyl and toluene in the operation of an engine, said method consistingin mixing the carbon dioxid, chlorid of methyl, and toluene underpressure until the toluene partially or wholly absorbs the chlorid ofmethyl, and the carbon dioxid is partially or wholly absorbed by themethyl and toluene, heating the gas to separate the same and increasingtheir pressures, conducting said gases to and through an engine tooperate the same, reducing the temperature of the gases to the point ofliquefaction of the toluene, absorbing a portion of the gases of thechlorid of methyl by the liquefied toluene, continuing the reduction oftemperature to the point of liquefaction of the chlorid of methyl notabsorbed, absorbing a portion of the gases of the carbon dioxid by theliqueoombinedin or in about the proportions specified chlorid of methyland continuing the refied. I0 duction of temperature until theliquefaction In Witness whereof I have hereunto set my of all the gasesoccurs for reducing the back hand this 17th day of July, A. D. 1896.

5 pressure on the engine. EDMOND V. ROURE.

6. The herein-described compound for the Witnesses: operation of enginesthe same consisting of J NO. E. PARKER,

chlorid of methyl, carbon dioxid and toluene BLANOHE R. DQBBINS.

